The Pharma Letter M&A round-up - June 2026

The Pharma Letter’s June M&A coverage showed that biopharma buyers remain prepared to pay heavily for late-stage or strategically useful assets, while also using smaller deals to fill technology and infrastructure gaps.

The largest reported transaction was German drugmaker Merck KGaA’s (MRK: DE) planned $11.3 billion acquisition of Bio-Techne, strengthening its life sciences tools business. Close behind were two major pipeline deals: US pharma major AbbVie’s (NYSE: ABBV) $10.9 billion agreement to buy Apogee Therapeutics, adding long-acting immunology assets led by zumilokibart, and UK pharma major GSK’s (LSE: GSK) $10.6 billion move for Nuvalent, bringing in targeted lung cancer candidates under US Food and Drug Administration review.